Glossary

Amchoor
Dried mango powder. This is added to dishes just before they finish cooking to add a tangy taste.

Asafoetida (Hing, pronounced Heeng)
The dried gum of a plant belonging to the fennel family. It has a potent, foul aroma but when added to hot oil imparts a wonderful buttery aroma to the dish.

Aniseed (Saunf)
A liquorice-like seed that is used as a digestive. Similar to fennel seeds but not used as widely in cooking as in after dinner mints.

Arhar
Arhar is a type of lentils also known as toor or tuvar. These are like flat discs, split and sometimes sold with an oil coating that you can just wash off.

B

Balti
This word means bucket. It is also inexplicably used to describe British Indian curries.

Basmati
Long grained Indian rice that is hugely popular because of its light, fluffy texture when cooked. You can get white or brown. While white rice is more traditional, Indians are increasingly enjoying the healthier brown variety.

Bay leaf (Tej Patta)
Pungent dried leaves of the Laurel plant. This is a staple in curries, added to hot oil where they sizzle and release a heady, woody fragrance.

Bharta
Cooking term referring to mash.

Bhuna
Cooking terms referring to stir fried dishes.

C

Cardamom (elaichi)
A fragrant seedpod available in both a small green and large dark brown shape. The small green elaichi is used to delicately flavour curries and sweet dishes. The brown elaichi is used more as a powerful aromatic in curries and rice dishes.

Channa
Quite simply, chickpeas. Donâ€™t bother soaking these overnight and cooking for hours. Use a tin of ready boiled ones.

Channa dal
Yellow lentils resulting from a smaller relative of the chickpea being split in half. It has a nutty sweet flavour and is often cooked with sweet vegetables or sugar.

Chicken tikka masala
A British curry invention of skewered chicken in fluorescent orange red curry. This is loosely based on the North Indian butter chicken or Murgh Makhani.

Chilli
This can mean one of many things. Green chilli refers to finger chillies, which are used fresh, whole or chopped up. Dry whole red chillies impart a lovely, soft spiciness to hot oil and these powdered are what give us chilli powder. Use them the Indian way – donâ€™t deseed. Read more here.

Cinnamon (dalchini)
The bark of a tree with a sharp, sweet taste. This is used whole in hot oil to flavour curries and pulaos.

Cloves
Small flower buds that look like nails. These have a sweet and strong minty taste and are used in hot oil for meat curries.

Coriander (Cilantro, dhaniya)
This is one of the most basic ingredients used in Indian cooking. The fresh leaves are used whole to garnish dishes or as a curry base. The berries of the plant are dried and used both whole and powdered.

Cumin (Jeera)
The other basic ingredient for Indian cooking, these are the seeds of a plant that are used whole or powdered. They have a distinct earthy and warm flavour.

Curry
While this is used to generically refer to Indian food, the word actually means a dish with sauce/gravy.

Curry leaves (Kadi patta)
The leaves of a tree used fresh to flavour curries and dry, vegetable dishes. It is used extensively in the West and South of India. The dry ones have hardly any flavour, so buy a bag and freeze to use it for up to six months.

Curry powder
A generic mix of basic Indian ingredients such as turmeric, chilli, coriander and cumin powders. This takes the fun out of Indian cooking. Avoid.

D

Dal (or dhal)
The word used to describe lentils and also the curry made by adding a tempering (tarka) to boiled lentils.

F

Fennel seeds (Badi saunf)
Similar to aniseeds, but longer, more subtle and used in cooking. They have a distinct liquorice-like taste.

Fenugreek (methi)
A bitter fragrant plant. The fresh leaves are used as a leafy vegetable. The dried version, known as kasoori methi, is soaked in hot water and sprinkled over curries to balance sweet or acidic flavours.

G

Garam masala
Literally hot spice, this is a combination of rich and bitter whole spices that are dry roasted and then powdered. Some garam masalas can have up to 33 ingredients but the most common are bay leaves, cinnamon, cloves, green cardamoms and coriander seeds. Avoid the hassle and buy this readymade.

Ghee
This is clarified butter or pure butter that is cooked for about two hours, until the impurities in it settle to the bottom. This is the highest quality cooking fat you can use. Delicious but also most fattening!

Gram flour (besan)
Gram flour is chick pea flour. It is used to make the batter for bhajis and also in soups and curries. It is gluten free, pale yellow in colour and has a soft fine powdery texture.

Greek Yoghurt
This is thick and creamy textured yoghurt. Widely available in Europe, if you live in the US try a yoghurt with a higher fat content or strain your regular yogurt in a muslin cloth so it doesnâ€™t split when cooking.

Mustard seeds
Seeds of the mustard plant. You get three varieties â€“ white, brown and black. The black mustard seeds are used widely in cooking.

N

Nigella seeds (kala jeera)
Also known as black onion or black cumin seeds, these are small with a distinct bitter and peppery taste. This is stuff that gets sprinkled over naans.

Nutmeg (Jaiphal)
The seed of the evergreen nutmeg tree. It has a bittersweet, aromatic flavour that adds depth when grated into a dish. Buy whole as it lasts forever and tastes fresh every time you use a bit.